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Fun tree fact, because every time I mention this someone seems to have their mind blown: trees are not a group of related organisms, like, say, birds are. It's more of a behavior. (The botanists call it a "habit.") An oak tree is more closely related to a daisy than either is to a pine tree.

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@stevegis_ssg so basically a tree is to plants what crabs are to crustaceans?

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@charlotte

Sort of, except that (for all that carcinization is interesting and memegenic) crustaceans really are one little group and crabs have only arisen with it, while trees happen all over the entire plant kingdom.

For animals, the analogous "body plan we keep resorting to over and over across phyla" is probably worms. WHOLE lotta worms out there. Even snakes (and caecilians) are basically vertebrate worms.

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